《How to Write Stories People Will Love》3. Find Inspiration
Advertisement
If you're ever stumped for ideas on what to write, there are two things I recommend.
A story that I recently finished was inspired by a random thought I had while walking the dogs. They were sniffing intently at a bush, and I thought to myself, "I wonder what it's like to smell things as well as they do?" My brain then followed that rabbit down a hole and a story began forming. (Incidentally, this story is now on Wattpad! Look for My Mother Runs With Wolves on my profile. Website users can click on the External Link.)
Encourage your brain to think random thoughts. In any direction.
What would it be like to live on the moon? How high could you jump?
Do alligators really survive in the sewer? What do they live on?
How much time did Richard Adams spend staring at rabbits when he wrote Watership Down? Did his friends think he was crazy?
If teleporters ever get invented, I wonder if it'll get sabotaged by the airline and automobile industries?
Encouraging your mind to wander to pointless places sometimes sparks an idea for a story. My brain is always doing this on its own (I occasionally document these random thoughts in "My Hamster Wheel Brain" blog) and I'm often accused of spacing out. Some of these random thoughts give me ideas, and I'll scribble these ideas into a file for later reference.
Wandering thoughts usually aren't enough to come up with a story plot. The way you flesh out an idea is by asking what ifs. I'll take my previous wandering examples and apply what ifs to them...
What if they started colonizing the moon, and I volunteered? Would any of my friends and family go with me? What if I was in a relationship? What would happen to that?
Advertisement
What if these sewer alligators were actually robots created by a corporation to build something secret underground?
What if Richard Adams made his story about cats instead of rabbits? What might have changed?
What if teleporters do get invented, but big-money lobbies get laws to be passed that make them illegal? What if a small group of scientists keeps working on one anyway, what would they do with it? Would a black market teleportation industry spring up?
Now these wandering thoughts have more meat on them, more potential to turn into stories.
If your brain doesn't wander like mine does, there are other ways. The What If Game can be powerful. Take an existing fairy tale. Then what-if the heck out of it. Here's an example: Peter Pan.
What if Peter Pan was actually a girl? She could be Petra Pan. With Lost Girls instead of Lost Boys.
What if this was set in space? Maybe Peter Pan used a jet pack instead of fairy dust. Would Tinkerbell be an alien?
What if Captain Hook was Peter's father?
What if Peter Pan was like Mad Max, and the Lost Boys ran Thunderdome?
What if Peter somehow got old? (This has already been done, in that Robin Williams movie, Hook.)
What if Tinkerbell was big and ugly like a troll, instead of tiny, fluttery and cute?
As you can see, there are countless directions you can go in! Some of them may have been done already, but there are so many possibilities, that chances are good you'll find something original.
Maintain a file or notebook for all your ideas. No matter how dumb or tiny the idea might seem, write it down. You don't have to flesh it out. Just record what you have. Twice now, I've thought of nothing but a title. No clue what the plot was, or who the characters might be. Just a story title I thought was cool. I wrote them down and set it aside for several months.
Advertisement
Then later, as I recorded other ideas, I would peruse my previous ideas just for fun. Often these previous ideas will stir something in my creative space, and something will take root. Months later, I now have a complete short story, called "Sell Fish", and an in-progress novel from those two disembodied story titles I once wrote down.
Advertisement
- In Serial52 Chapters
Ages Online
It is year 2034. The age of console games are over and the age of virtual reality has just begun. Yashita Corps, a Japanese company at the forefront of virtual gaming had released a new generation game called Ages Online that is said to be revolutionary among all other Virtual Reality MMORPGs. As gamers from all over the world flock to Ages Online, Sebast Koh watch on the sidelines as he persisted in finishing the story quest for an older game Yggdrassil Online. The result was him being ostracized in class due to him being the only one not playing the new game.As he started off in the world of Agaia friendless and one step behind the rest, Sebast, handle name Beast, thought he could find solace in power grinding up as a warrior to catch up to speed, only for bad luck to strike time and time again. May he persevere in his most dangerous journey yet.
8 217 - In Serial26 Chapters
Mental World Online
Brain Chips, our future, your computer in your mind. An ARWORPG game and a mystery. Someone's changing the game, their motives are mysterious and their actions unfathomable. Story stars a lovable cast: a doubting young cow farmer, a shameful coder, a girl who wants to be a famous painter, a Troll Hero-King grieving for his kingdom, and a magical girl. Join them on a journey embroiled in mysteries, into their hearts and minds in a mental world, online. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Entering World Online...
8 229 - In Serial9 Chapters
Cornerman (Naruto)
A melting icecap, a bubbling spring or the soft autumn rain; small trickling streams that, over many years, grow into mighty rivers. Within every man lies the call to power - it is as much a part of him as his very own blood. The foolish drink from that vital liquid, but the wise know that strength is not worth seeking. Instead, they desire that which lies beyond it. They follow the mighty river to its source. Eyes wide, they spot the glistening icecap. Ears open, they listen for the bubbling spring. Nose twitching, they smell the scent of the autumn rain. They find those small, trickling streams. They are led to the source from which strength flows. It is that which beats within the bosom of every man: a blood-red heart.
8 113 - In Serial54 Chapters
The KokoCrunch Guild - Dragon Nest Fan-fiction
Cover: Lancea carrying a fork with a Sosig. Tribute to my Guild in Dragon Nest, who gave color to my Dragon Nest Life. KokoCrunch Guild, Guild Leader NasagiChan, Ukyo, They are plenty to mention. I don't wanna mention them, including myself because they're plenty. Anyway, I wish they will remember these photos, which already in the FBGP.If you member of the guild see this, you know me already who am I. Aside from the FBGP, Discord, and postimage. I was the one who made them all, so the files and all the materials I use are always alive in my harddisk. Hash the Sosig Raven, xD if you see this, promise, just print it and create a pocket book. -----------------------------------------------------------------------Have fun recalling our adventures, it's not really written here. We all grow and busy.
8 218 - In Serial8 Chapters
Red and the three little blues
AU: In which the Blues have no parents, and Red adopted them. (Movie-verse)
8 95 - In Serial15 Chapters
Dragon's Heart (Toothlessxreader)
You look up and make eye contact with beautiful green eyes that seem to shine in the bright sun. He kept my gaze and I saw him form a smile and say " You are a nightfury!" He starts to get closer to me and at that moment my brothers get in front of me forming a shield and growling at the other nightfury.
8 198

